


That Widow is Alive

by BWolf_20



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Execution, Gen, Past Character Death, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-22 20:40:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10704690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BWolf_20/pseuds/BWolf_20
Summary: Ever since Negan escaped after the war, Maggie can't stop thinking about Glenn. Not having taken care of her husband's murderer is beginning to take its toll on her. When Negan is found, what will she do about it? What form of justice is fitting for all those that have lost someone to this man?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Story inspired by the fans who feel Maggie should be the one to punish Negan, if the show goes in that direction. Besides that, I haven't really seen any fics of Maggie contemplating Glenn's death or confronting Negan about it.  
> Title is Negan's own words from the season 7 finale when he noticed she was alive.

“What’s the right thing Glenn?”

She held the pocket watch and gently ran her fingers over it as she stood over his grave. She had been thinking about her husband a lot lately. She’d seen him in dreams, always smiling at her and wordlessly telling her he loved her. A common dream was him standing next to her as the doctor told them how well their baby was doing on the ultrasound. Maggie never looked at the screen; she had only kept her eyes on Glenn.  
She curled her fingers around the watch as her eyes began to moisten. Then she rested a hand across her belly. Several of the Hilltoppers had said it was a miracle the war hadn’t stressed her to the point where she’d totally exhaust herself and lose the baby. It hadn’t been an easy fight, but they had survived…they had won. 

They had...won.

Won?

Her fingers curled harshly into the pocket watch. It hadn’t felt like a complete win if she was honest with herself. Partially because so many had died, but the main reason was because their main target had managed to escape. Thinking about it only made her feel as though she’d lost Glenn all over again.

“Maggie.”

She turned as Rick walked up to her. Ever since the war ended, he never seemed capable of looking at her the same way. There was a clear look of admiration for her strength, but there was also the expression of shame. 

Rick blamed himself for Negan’s escape and had apologized, but no matter how many times she told him it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t appear to believe it. No one blamed the man, but as leader, she knew it was natural to carry the weight of guilt.

“Find anything?” she asked. He shook his head in response and she dropped her head in disappointment. “Okay.”

Ever since the war ended, small groups had gone out on a manhunt hoping to bring the bastard to justice. Rick had gone out every time, nearly dying on two occasions. Asking him to sit one out was pointless. 

“We’re gonna find him, I promise.”

She gave him a false smile and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I know.” It was a lie. She was certain Negan was probably long gone from the area. Such a thought made her stomach twist even more than it had on the day he vanished. 

The Hilltoppers weren’t completely right about her. She wasn’t holding up all so well. She was in the beginning, but afterwards, she felt her strength was evaporating slowly. With so many eyes on her she had to play strong. She refused to be looked at as a poor widow who couldn’t move on from the past after all. Of course she would never forget Glenn, but as of late his loss felt so fresh.

“I will,” Rick promised again.

“You should take it easy,” she said softly as she noted the dark circles under his eyes. “You can’t push yourself to-“

“I have to…” he drifted off as his eyes fell to the grave. “For Glenn, I owe him, and everyone that he killed. We won’t make it unless it’s done.”

Maggie started to speak, but then her thoughts drifted to the Governor, specifically the time when he returned—and killed her father.

Without realizing it, a tear was running down her cheek.

“Oh, Maggie, I’m sorry if I—“

“No, no it’s fine.” She felt that sickening twist in her stomach that had arrived the day she saw her father being held hostage. 

But it wasn’t fine. She thought about Beth next. Beth turned into Glenn, who turned into her father, who turned into Beth, who became Sasha. It was a sickening cycle of the people that had left a sense of hollowness within her. She had always managed to push past it. She had made sure to push past it, for the sake of the baby, for the sake of living. She wondered sometimes if she was truly living.

“It’s not fine. You need this to be done, we all do.”

“It won’t bring him back,” she said shakily. 

“But it will give us closure. You deserve that. You’ve been, amazing through all of this. I don’t know how you’ve done it. I’m not sure if I could.”

Maggie wiped the tear away, and in doing so noticed a few passing Hilltoppers in the distance tossing her a concerned look.

“Sometimes I don’t feel like I can anymore. Sometimes I don’t feel like, I’m the person everyone sees. I am trying.” 

She didn’t want to give up. She didn’t want to feel crushed whenever she saw some ghostly image of Glenn smiling at her. There had been moments, though very few, where she felt the strong need to join him where ever he’d gone. She would be with the rest of her family.

“It’s okay to hurt. You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

“Sometimes…I keep seeing Glenn.” She met Rick’s eyes, fearful of sounding crazy, but Rick was giving her a look of understanding as he nodded for her to continue. “Been happening a lot lately. In my dreams mostly. I don’t know what it means. Maybe I’m going crazy, or maybe it’s a sign I can’t take it anymore.”

“I don’t believe that,” Rick said firmly, yet softly. “When I lost Lori, I saw her everywhere. I thought I was going crazy, maybe in a way I was. It’s not a sign of going crazy, or a sign that you can’t make it.”

“Then what is it?”

Rick bowed his head as a flash of grief passed over his features.

“A sign of how much you need him. How much you miss him.”

Her eyes fell to the mound of dirt again.

“I do need him,” she whispered.

“Rick!” 

They both looked up to see Jesus running toward them. Both readied for the worst.

“Rosita’s group is back, and they…they got him.”

Neither needed clarification on what he meant. Right away, Maggie felt as if something had burst inside of herself.

“Dead? Is he dead?” she immediately asked.

“No. They managed to bring him back alive.”

Rick exchanged a look with Maggie before following Jesus. She hesitated briefly, before hurrying after them.

The majority of the community was there, blocking a clear view of Rosita and Dwight and the few others that had gone with her. Maggie quickly moved through the crowd with one thing on her mind.

“I have to see…let me see,” she muttered.

When she made it to the front, she saw him. The bastard was being pulled out of the back of the car, hands bound behind his back. He stumbled and shook his head in a manner that suggested he’d been knocked around a bit or even knocked out. Two men that had been a part of the hunt, including Dwight, held their guns on him.

“How?” Rick asked simply.

Rosita tossed a look at Dwight. 

“Thanks goes to him, mostly. He thought of a place we should check a second time. We ambushed the son of a bitch.”

“Why didn’t you kill him?” Maggie practically demanded, her voice suddenly raw.

Rosita stared back at her for a few good minutes before answering.

“I tried to once. I thought someone else deserved a shot. If I couldn’t bring him back, I would have.”

Maggie turned her attention to Negan who was slowly beginning to acknowledge what was going on. She was certain there was a brief flash of fear, before he brought up a smile.

“Now this is what I call a goddamn welcome party, and all for me.”

“Shut the hell up,” Rosita warned.

“Rick,” Maggie said quietly without turning to face him. Negan, on the other hand, turned his attention to her, still smiling.

“Well, if it isn’t the dead widow. Always a fucking pleasure to see that beautiful face.”

“I swear to god.” Rosita had her gun out in a flash and was jamming it into his neck.

“Do it! Kill the bastard.”

“He deserves it.”

“It should be Rick.”

“I want to do it!”

Maggie gazed around at the rising blood lust of the crowd. The war had strengthened them to the point where they no longer wished to back-down the way Gregory had wanted them to. They were fighters now, fighters desiring revenge.

She looked at Negan and wondered what could be going on in his head. He gave no clear expression; he was simply watching the vocal crowd. Rick looked to her and Maggie raised a hand to quiet them all.

“We won’t do it here. Take him back to Alexandria and lock him up, til we decide when and where.” He turned to Maggie then. “You agree?”

She gave a nod.

“Ezekiel’s people will want to be there for it.”

“So I guess that’s it then,” Negan spoke up. “No life behind bars. Just put on a good show of dying.”

Rick stepped forward, glaring hard.

“You deserve it.”

A silence followed, then Rosita signaled for the men to place him back in the car. Maggie quietly watched the scene unfold feeling numb. Suddenly images of Glenn being struck with the bat plagued her mind. She stumbled back as she saw his bloodied face in her head and shut her eyes. She pressed a hand over her belly and held back the tears.

“You okay?”

She looked up, not even realizing Rick had come up to her.

“I will be, when this is done.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Negan be dealt with?

A week later found Negan, bound with his arms behind his back, being marched to the center of a field just outside of Alexandria. Surrounding that field were several spectators from the Hilltop as well as from the Kingdom. 

Maggie walked alongside Rick who followed the men escorting Negan.

“It’ll finally be over, after today,” Rick told her.

Maggie wanted it to be over. It hadn’t been easy knowing Negan was currently alive behind bars. The situation only seemed to fuel the memories of that horrible night, where Glenn was alive for the last time. Ghostly images of him appeared to her randomly, and she would always pale at the sightings. 

“Yes, this much will be…but there will always be others, like him that come along.”

“And we’ll handle it.”

She rested a hand against her stomach and looked into the crowd as she walked. Glenn was among them, staring at her with no expression on his face. After lingering her gaze on the illusion, she shifted her eyes away.

“You know, this almost reminds me of Nicholas.”

Rick quirked and a brow at her in confusion.

“Nick caused Noah’s death. Then, he tried to kill Glenn, but Glenn spared him. He could’ve killed him in the woods, but he didn’t, because that’s just the kind of person Glenn was.”

“Are you saying, we should spare Negan?”

She turned to him sharply.

“No. This is different. There’s only one way to finish this.”

She felt her heart beating quickly. She looked at the crowd again, hoping to see Glenn, but he didn’t appear a second time. 

“I hope you’re doing alright. You and the baby. Some have told me you seem tired, more than you should.”

“I’m fine,” she lied. 

She hated how this was making her feel. There was no reason why this whole matter should be affecting her this way, especially when she’d held it together so well during the war. 

Maggie took her place next to Ezekiel while Rick walked up to Negan as he was being forced to his knees.

“So…this is it,” Negan said, while putting on a shit eating grin.

“Yes, this is it,” Rick said coldly.

Negan stared back at Rick as if he was in awe of the man. Maggie suspected he had to be. The man didn’t see his downfall coming. 

“Damn,” Negan whispered. “I truly, fucking underestimated you Rick.”

Maggie couldn’t help feeling slightly impressed with his lack of fear, although she could hear an impression of defeat in his tone. 

“How’re you gonna do it then? Nothing fancy? A shot to the head?”

Rick walked away from him then to fetch his form of execution. And when he’d stepped away, Maggie stepped forward, her eyes never leaving Negan’s form.

“You got anything to say? Any last words?” she asked bitterly while keeping a steady glare on him.

“I have more of a request darling. Why don’t you do me the favor of one last screw. I always thought you’d make a fine new wife.”

A sharp slap across the face was Maggie’s response. Negan shook it off and chuckled.

“Fiery, just like that Olivia chick. I think I’m one hundred percent into you now.”

She felt such revulsion at the man she was certain she was going to be sick. But she held it together.

“You ruined our lives. You killed so many, innocent people, like my husband. He was a good man, and you killed him.”

Negan eyed her seriously.

“Your husband, that Asian guy. I already told you people, that wasn’t on me. You want to blame somebody blame Daryl.”

“I blame you,” she said harshly. “We were a family. We care and protect each other. Your mistake was you thought you could come along and turn us into slaves. You thought killing some of our own would put us in our place. But we weren’t going to stand for that. Your way, is not how we survive. Your way only destroys, and that’s why it needs to be destroyed, with your death.” 

She paused as she crouched down to his level.

“Now, do you have any final words?”

Negan observed her quietly for a minute before answering.

“I’m no fucking idiot. You’re looking for an apology from me.”

“Even if you apologized, I won’t accept it.”

Negan’s calm, nonchalant behavior dropped into an expression of frustration.

“You all had to be taught a lesson. You all had to pay for what you did to my men. Everything was going fine before that. Now I am sorry you feel so fucking strongly about this, and I am sorry, that the only way for my message to get across was to take out your dear beloved husband, but I think that’s shit you need to get over. I learned that lesson myself long ago. We all have to.”

Maggie stared back at him.

“Like I said, apology not accepted.”

She stood and turned away just as Rick was approaching with his execution method of choice.

“Then I guess I should take a page from the late red and say, suck my nuts.”

It happened almost immediately. 

Maggie grabbed the weapon from Rick, Negan’s own infamous bat, turned, and swung. Negan barely had time to register what was coming his way as the wired bat connected with the right side of his face. Blood bloomed over his eye and across his cheek as he cried out. Even the crowd made noises of surprise.

“Goddamn!” Negan managed to curse, while Maggie paused to catch her breath after what she’d just done. Negan raised his head to meet her eyes. He was pissed. “Lucille…gonna fucking, use Lucille on me!”

“Maggie,” Rick began as he made a move to take the bat away from her.

“No!” She had to do it, for everyone…for Glenn. 

“You’re not doing this! YOU’RE NOT KILLING ME WITH LUCILLE!”

Crack!

She swung the bat again, striking him almost dead center in his face. She heard the crack of his nose and watched as the blood gushed down. Negan swayed from his kneeled position, but made to jump up and attack her with a near war cry. Maggie swung again, harder, causing him to stumble and fall to his side. With his arms behind his back, he had no means of pushing himself up in a proper position, so he stayed on his side on the ground breathing slowly.

Maggie too took a moment to breathe. Negan’s bloodied face shifted to Glenn’s from that night. She blinked back tears. She felt like she was back there, and not here. 

“Not…not Lucille. You are…animals,” Negan muttered offensively.

Someone came and pulled Negan back onto his knees, then without thinking about it, Maggie cracked the bat against his head again. He stumbled forward, head turned to the side to keep from choking on his own blood.

“You’re the animal!” Maggie cried. “You.”

The crowd was practically quiet, observing the scene with serious expressions. Maggie felt she could feel the hatred from the man radiating off of them. 

“It didn’t have to be this way. It shouldn’t have been this way. They didn’t deserve to die.”

Negan made pathetic attempts to right himself, but couldn’t manage it. Maggie felt no sympathy. She recalled how long he let Glenn suffer after two swings. That horrific image combined with Glenn’s last promise, “I’ll find you”, caused her to drop the bat on Negan once again.

“Bastard,” she muttered.

There seemed a clear crack in his crown from such a strike, and Negan had resorted to gurgling and moaning in agony. No longer was he capable of running his mouth. A hand twitched, his legs spasmed. He had not lost an eye out of his socket, but the blood flooding down had completely coated it.

Maggie just stared down at him. She let the bloodied bat rest at her side. How long she would let him lie there in misery she didn’t know. No one came forward to take the bat or suggest that she or someone else put the man out of his misery. It seemed they were all in silent agreement to let it continue for as long as possible.

After what seemed a long silence, Rick broke it quietly.

“Maggie.”

She turned to him, feeling numb and cold.

“Do you think Glenn would approve? Do you think I went too far?” 

It was exactly how Negan had killed Glenn. Though she felt there was something fitting in having the man killed by his own beloved weapon, it echoed the tragedy too closely. Part of it felt wrong, but another part felt right.

“I think Glenn would understand.”

Suddenly it was as if her heart burst. The tears started to pour as she raised the bat. God did she miss Glenn. She missed Abraham. She missed Sasha.

She prepared to swing it down for the final time, but stumbled back as she was brought back to that awful night. 

She just couldn’t do it anymore. 

It was too much. She didn’t want to see the remains of another cracked and mutilated head, regardless of who it was, ever again. It was over anyways.

Someone came and grabbed the bat from her shaky hands, and she turned to see Daryl looking grave. Maggie wiped the tears away and looked at Negan. 

“He can’t hurt us, not anymore.”

Daryl guided Maggie back as Rick wordlessly stepped forward, his Colt Python in hand. Everybody watched as he fired the shot, and nobody flinched. Negan finally laid motionless on the ground, bloodied eyes still open and face frozen in pain and shock.

Maggie turned away from the scene feeling more alive than she had weeks ago. And as the others converged on the body, she found herself only interested in visiting another. 

She stood back and watched the others. Fingers slid into her hand and held on tight. She looked around to see Enid looking at her.

“It’s alright now. I’m alright now.”

She felt it was more possible now to raise her child than it had been a few days ago. And if she should see another image of Glenn, whether in a moment or in a dream, she felt she had nothing to fear and no more reason to grieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did always gravitate toward Negan getting it with his own bat when polls came up about how Negan should die. And I had considered letting Maggie finish him off, but considering Glenn died in the same manner, I guess it felt a little offensive. And if I recall correctly, Maggie did bash in a Savior before when she and Carol got captured by those female Saviors. I like the idea of Rick taking care of Negan, but there’s also a good reason for Maggie to have a shot, so I split Negan’s punishment between the two, and let Rick’s own choice weapon finish it.

**Author's Note:**

> I planned for Negan to be dealt with in one way, but I'm open to another form of punishment that can be exacted if anyone has one, otherwise Negan's fate is sealed next chapter.


End file.
